Old Knitting Technology From the Future

So. The legal battle between Nike’s Fly Knit and Adidas’ PrimeKnit seems to have faded into the background, and there doesn’t seem to be any new law suits, court injunctions, or other extraneous knitting gossip. But there is this very interesting video from Adidas featuring illustrator Damien Weighill’s work, showcasing crying ants, pterodactyls with laser-beam eyes, the PrimeKnit running shoe (of course), and most importantly a magnificent STOLL knitting machine. See below:

And here is what the finished object looks like, all 2 metres of it. The story is read bottom to top, back and forth, just the way it was knit. So if you are trying to make any sense of it, I suggest you scroll down first and try viewing it as you scroll back up:

I wonder whose office this ended up in? Alternately, It would make a very awesome scarf!

Now, I am a die-hard hand knitter. I love the kinetic motion of moving stitches from one needle to another, the staccato rhythm captured in a knit-purl pattern, the serenity of a lace pattern that emulates a walk on the beach. The STOLL, however, is like the Bugatti Veyron of knitting machines: it’s fast, it’s smart, it’s über expensive, and when I see one in action, my mouth drops open just the tiniest bit.

Just because I do like walks on the beach doesn’t mean I don’t like highly engineered, high performance vehicles. And STOLL always manages to take my breath away.

Powerful technology is slowly but surely being applied to the knitting I know and love.